The Little Sapa Sellers

This image has haunted me for a while. It was the photograph taken on my phone that focused upon the keychains and blurred everyone/thing else. That really caught my attention. The sparkly trinkets are the focus of the photograph.

Around our hotel in Sapa, Vietnam lots of little girls ran around trying to sell keychains to the tourists; many of them with even littler sisters strapped on their backs to gain more sympathy. Our tour guide told us not to buy from them. The government wanted these children to be in school. Selling these little things deterred school attendance. I get the conflict: parents, who are (probably) struggling financially, have their children help out by selling knickknacks. The parents probably see this as more beneficial then sending them to school. School may help in the long run, but we need the money now situation.